The Diamond Sutra
“All created things are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, or a shadow like dew or like lightning you should view them like this.”
Over 1,100 years ago, on May 11, 868, a man named Wang Jie commissioned a woodblock-printed scroll of the Diamond Sutra, which records teachings of the Buddha. This sutra has the name “diamond” because it is said to be uniquely strong, cutting through delusion to reveal the ultimate truth.
An inscription on the 17½-foot-long scroll reveals: “Reverently made for universal free distribution by Wang Jie on behalf of his two parents.” Commissioning the reproduction of Buddhist paintings, sculptures, or texts was a way to obtain merit—good karma—for this life or next.
It’s on loan from the British Library for the Cave Temples of Dunhuang exhibition, which includes precious paintings, scrolls, and books from the so-called Library Cave of Dunhuang (Mogao).
Diamond Sutra, 868 CE. Ink on paper. London, British Library, Or.8210/P.2. Images copyright © The British Library Board